and the first murderer |
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Cain killed his brother Abel in a murderous rage stimulated by jealousy. In the painting, I show him gazing down at his brother as he lies on the ground releasing his last breath. Cain’s body is splattered with his Abel’s blood, markings of his violent deed. The live model for the painting was
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Artist's Oils on Masonite panel 18 x 23 inches (46.7 x 58.4 cm) |
I represented Abel at the moment of death, releasing his last breath. Violent death is not pretty (I've have had the misfortune of witnessing it), so I did not seek to glamorize it but to show it for what it is. The live model for the painting was my seventeen year-old cousin
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Artist's Oils on Masonite panel 23 x 18 inches (58.4 x 46.7 cm) |
Most religious paintings I've seen on the subject are from the
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An example of a Baroque painting about Cain and Abel. |
On the other hand, my influences are from the cinema. I love films and a film that left an impression on me was
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Richard Harris and Franco Nero, seen in a still from John Huston's 1966 epic |
After thinking about the composition, I invited my two models to come by my house in the evening for coffee and cake. Then I asked them to pose for a few reference photographs for the paintings. This was before digital photography, when you had to plan well and shoot the least amount of photographs because the expense of developing film could add up quickly. So I made sure to light my models properly, using a combination of house lamps and cardboard reflectors, and shot a dozen photos. Posing them and going through the small roll of film took less than half hour. The following morning I took the roll of film to
Both paintings were done in one night. I had to show them in school the next morning, which was a Friday. I used Artist's Oils because they blended easily and kept the paint very thin so it would dry faster. Actually, I dried them in my kitchen's oven -not the first time I
In time, I gave the paintings to the models. As far as I can remember, those were the only religious-theme paintings I have ever done, though I never thought of them as religious. To me they represented the drama of life. People are emotional beings filled with character flaws. This can make us unpredictable even on situations with an expected outcome. It fills the world around us with drama. So I tend to compose everything in my mind as if I was casting a play and creating a scene. The tragic story of Cain and Abel provided me with an exciting, emotional, and unexpected act that I could bring to the spot light one more time.